History Trivia / HowardTheDuck

* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The film is pointedly set in Cleveland, as is the original comic, but shot in Southern California, as evidenced by the palm trees in the background of some shots. Additionally, while it does have both a natural history museum and an aquarium, they are on opposite ends of town, not in the same building.

* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The film is pointedly set in Cleveland, as is the original comic, but shot in Southern California, as evidenced by the palm trees in the background of some shots.

** This was the '''highest-grossing''' Marvel movie until ''Film/{{Blade}}''. Which probably explains why it took to the 21st century to get more Marvel films (Creator/DCComics shooting their entire dominance in the foot fatally with ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' and ''Film/{{Steel}}'' also helped pave the way for Marvel to become what it is today).

* OldShame: '''''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis EVERY! SINGLE! PERSON! INVOLVED!!]]'''''
** [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Lea Thompson]].
--> [[http://www.cbr.com/lea-thompson-revels-in-her-incredible-howard-the-duck-comic-book-reunion/ "If I did it, I own it. It’s just really fun to see people having fun celebrating “Howard the Duck” in all its great silliness and blemishes."]]

* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay off the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built (which had also cost him his Creator/{{Pixar}} division, which Steve Jobs and ex-Disney animator Creator/JohnLasseter bought, and it would be 26 years before the two companies were fully reunited under Disney's banner, which included ''Howard'' copyright holder Marvel).

** [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Lea Thompson]]. ([[http://www.cbr.com/lea-thompson-revels-in-her-incredible-howard-the-duck-comic-book-reunion/ "If I did it, I own it. It’s just really fun to see people having fun celebrating “Howard the Duck” in all its great silliness and blemishes."]])

** Creator/RobPaulsen and Townsend Coleman of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' fame had both auditioned for the voice of Howard, as did Martin Short, Creator/JohnCusack and Creator/JasonAlexander.

** Creator/JohnLandis was originally slated to direct the film.

* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay of the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built (which had also cost him his Creator/{{Pixar}} division, which Steve Jobs and ex-Disney animator Creator/JohnLasseter bought, and it would be 26 years before the two companies were fully reunited under Disney's banner, which included ''Howard'' copyright holder Marvel).

** This film, ''Labyrinth'' the same year, and an acrimonious divorce resulted in George Lucas agreeing to sell his Pixar division to Steve Jobs for $10 million; Lucasfilm and Pixar wouldn't be united under one roof again fully until 2012. The whole matter didn't help Lucas's career out a whole lot, but he remained in business.
* FranchiseKiller: The negative fallout from this movie's creation and bombing, along with [[Creator/{{Disney}} the newly christened Walt Disney Company]] complaining about Howard looking like WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, resulted in Marvel pushing Howard onto the backburner of their comic book lineup for decades, until Disney actually purchased them under Bob Iger's orders in 2009.
** This was the '''highest-grossing''' Marvel movie until ''{{Film/Blade}}''. Which probably explains why it took to the 21st century to get more Marvel films (DC shooting their entire dominance in the foot fatally with ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' and ''Film/{{Steel}}'' also helped pave the way for Marvel to become what it is today).
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it was only officially released on DVD in 2009.[[note]]And is missing the WesternAnimation/{{Daffy Duck}} voices Creator/MelBlanc recorded for the movie[[/note]] To everyone's shock, it actually got a Blu-ray release for the 30th anniversary, subverting the trope for now.

* This film managed to tie ''Under The Cherry Moon'' to co-win the Worst Picture of 1986 GoldenRaspberryAward. ''Howard the Duck'' is technically the first of three comic-book-based films to win the Worst Picture Razzie, being followed by two superhero comic book movies in the 21st Century: ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' in 2004, and ''[[Film/FantasticFour2015 Fantastic Four]]'' in 2015.

* This film managed to tie ''Under The Cherry Moon'' to co-win the Worst Picture of 1986 GoldenRaspberryAward.

* ShoutOut: Soos from WesternAnimation/GravityFalls character can be seen in one scene.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it was only officially released on DVD in 2009.[[note]]And is missing the WesternAnimation/{{Daffy Duck}} voices Creator/MelBlanc recorded for the movie[[/note]] To everyone's shock, it even got a Blu-Ray release for the 30th anniversary.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: Due to its less-than-glorious reputation, it was only recently officially released on DVD.[[note]]And is missing the WesternAnimation/{{Daffy Duck}} voices Creator/MelBlanc recorded for the movie[[/note]]

** [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Except Lea Thompson]].

** This film, ''Labyrinth'' the same year, and an acrimonious divorce resulted in George Lucas agreeing to sell his Pixar division to Steve Jobs for $10 million; Lucasfilm and Pixar wouldn't be united under one roof again fully until 2012.

** Creator/RobPaulsen and Townsend Coleman of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' fame had both auditioned for the voice of Howard, as did Martin Short and Creator/JohnCusack.

** Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz auditioned Creator/JohnCusack, Creator/JasonAlexander and Creator/MartinShort for the voice of Howard.
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* BigNameFan: Creator/SethRogain has mentioned that ''Howard'' was one of his favorite movies as a kid, albeit in a [[SoBadItsGood chiefly ironic way]].

* BigNameFan: Creator/SethRogan has mentioned that ''Howard'' was one of his favorite movies as a kid, albeit in a [[SoBadItsGood chiefly ironic way]].

* ShoutOut: A certain WesternAnimation/GravityFalls character can be seen in [[http://somekindofgravityfallsblog.tumblr.com/post/131244702151/soos-why-are-you-fighting-howard-the-duck this scene.]]

* CreatorKiller: Before the release of the movie, Willard Huyck had directed three movies, and he and wife Gloria Katz (who co-wrote ''Howard the Duck'') had collaborated with Creator/GeorgeLucas on many projects like ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' and even ''Film/ANewHope''. Since the failure of ''Howard'', they haven't worked on a single theatrical release, with their only subsequent credit being ''Radioland Murders'' -- and even then they only got credit based on a draft of the screenplay dating back to 1974.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[{{TheShawshankRedemption}} Andy Dufresne]], having escaped from Shawshank, is now helping our anthropomorphic hero.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Howard is voiced by Chip Zien, also the original Baker in StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''.
** In the Japanese dub, [[Creator/RyuseiNakao Howard]] is [[Manga/DragonBall Frieza]] and [[Creator/KikukoInoue Beverly]] is [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Belldandy]].

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* ShoutOut: A certain Gravity Falls character can be seen in [[http://somekindofgravityfallsblog.tumblr.com/post/131244702151/soos-why-are-you-fighting-howard-the-duck this scene.]]

* MoneyDearBoy: Creator/GeorgeLucas pushed for this film's wide release to pay of the debts for his divorce and the expansive Skywalker Ranch he had just had built (which had also cost him his Creator/{{Pixar}} division, which Steve Jobs and ex-Disney animator Creator/JohnLasseter bought, and it would be 26 years before the two companies were fully reunited under Disney's banner).

** This was the '''highest-grossing''' Marvel movie until ''{{Film/Blade}}''. Which probably explains why it took to the 21st century to get more Marrvel films.

** This was the '''highest-grossing''' Marvel movie until ''[[Film/Blade]]''. Which probably explains why it took to the 21st century to get more Marrvel films.